


Turn Up The Music

by DreamHighx



Category: 2jae - Fandom, GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Dance, Baristas, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-06-30 05:40:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamHighx/pseuds/DreamHighx
Summary: An old and wrinkly photobook was being taken out of its place in the bookshelf. Small feet were shuffling around gathering around the wing chair. The loud laughter that had filled the room earlier had stopped as all eyes were focused on the wing chair and the person sitting on it. Cookies were put on the small table in front of the chair and small hands took one and dipped it into a mug that’s filled with warm chocolate. The person sitting in the chair turned over the first page and pictures that were all to well know just as if it was yesterday were displayed. Eyes started to glow with happiness while looking at the pictures, memories flooded said person’s thoughts.“So little one, you asked how our story began. Well let’s say I was really stubborn back then. But let’s go to the start of our journey. It still feels like it’s been just yesterday. I can still hear the music playing.”





	1. Step One

An old and wrinkly photobook was being taken out of its place in the bookshelf. Small feet were shuffling around gathering around the wing chair. The loud laughter that had filled the room earlier had stopped as all eyes were focused on the wing chair and the person sitting on it. Cookies were put on the small table in front of the chair and small hands took one and dipped it into a mug that’s filled with warm chocolate. The person sitting in the chair turned over the first page and pictures that were all to well know just as if it was yesterday were displayed. Eyes started to glow with happiness while looking at the pictures, memories flooded said person’s thoughts.  
“So little one, you asked how our story began. Well let’s say I was really stubborn back then. But let’s go to the start of our journey. It still feels like it’s been just yesterday. I can still hear the music playing.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was not as if Youngjae wanted to stalk the dancers who were performing in front of the coffee shop he worked part time at every evening during the weekend. There was just no way not to look at them perform. The customers who visited the coffee shop during the evening mostly came and tried to get a good spot at the window to watch the boys bellow. So it was hard not to look down when everyone was enjoying the view as well and constantly talking about how handsome all six dancers were. There were often young girls at the window giggling and taking tons of pictures and videos.  
He hardly had a chance not to look himself because of these extremely handsome young men giving their best every evening. It wasn't just the looks that impressed him the first few times he had seen them, no also the way they always seemed to give their everything into each and every performance. As if they wanted to make every second worth it and to keep everyone staying with them and maybe get some tips out of to them. It was also always a nice surprise to see when on a Friday night they performed to a new song and no one was prepared to the stage they would be able to see. It also wasn't like he didn't know the guys from somewhere else as well. It wasn't that all of them went to the same University just that they all had different majors and were in different semesters.

Even though they went to the same University, some of them even stayed on the same floors for the dorms but Youngjae didn't share one single class with one of them. Four of them were his seniors and two were his juniors. He also mostly stayed by himself trying to find a place at the library to study or one of the small music practice rooms to play the piano which was mostly harder than thought, to just relax and free his mind just to go back to the library to study and revise some more.  
The boys bellow were quite known in the university and the leader must be the most popular one. It could be because he had new piercings almost after every holiday but also because of his talent for dancing most of all his b-boying.

 

“Back to reality Choi Youngjae, you have work to do!” the twenty-year-old murmured to himself. He sometimes lost track of time while watching the group just like most of his customers as well. Luckily, this time none of the six had looked up towards the windows something they had started to do lately. Almost as if looking for someone all their eyes wandered from one window to another. In all these times they had caught him watching them dance, they had waved at him and sometimes it almost seemed like they tried to get him come down to them. However, Youngjae could never leave his post in the coffee shop since this was his job and what helped him pay off his tuition fees. He was also mostly alone for around two hours during his shift, it mostly was a time that all tables were occupied but it wasn't as busy as a few hours earlier when mostly couples came in and order much more than just one drink and often came to get a refill but this also meant that he wasn't able to go outside as well.

 

Because he was still in University he was only able to make it to the evening or night shifts if not sometimes both. He wasn't able to be there early in the morning because of his classes. Since the owner of the shop was a friend of his parents he was able to get a shift that matched his schedule mostly just perfectly but he also knew that Youngjae needed the money so if it was needed and someone got sick or simply wouldn’t make it to their shift Youngjae mostly took that shift just to earn a bit more. But it also meant that he didn't really got much time on his own. His shift mostly started around 5pm and ended around 10pm or when he got the night shift 1am which meant that he got around 5 hours of sleep because of his early morning classes in his university. But there were also weeks when his afternoon classes would finish even earlier so he would already be in the coffee shop before 3pm.  
He always had some of his books with him at work, there always were a few hours when he would be able to put his book behind the cash register pull a chair to it and be able to work on some of his notes. So basically his daily routine during the week was attending classes, go to a unoccupied practice room with a piano to loosen up just to go to his next class, head over to the library to grab some new books, go to the coffee shop work and try to read the books and then head home to get a few hours of sleep. He was glad that during the weekends he only worked regularly on Saturdays and had one day off on Sunday to mostly studied some more and sometimes when it was a holiday he would head home to his family.

“Did you see the dancers outside?”  
"We must see that we can get a table at the window or else we will just go back down again." A new group of girls entered the coffee shop deeply into their conversation, their eyes wandering hopefully through the shop. Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to find anything likely, so just like that they left again without ordering anything, there was nothing he could do when this happened, it happened so often that even the owner got used of people coming in and going out without even looking at their menu card. Even if right now there were a few tables free they were on the other side of the coffee shop and so way to far away from the windows with no chance to be able to see the group down below.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

"Youngjae-ah did you take out the garbage this afternoon when Jaeeun-noona was still here?" A voice behind Youngjae ripped him away from his thoughts. Youngmin was another part-timer that worked with him in the shop. Youngmin mostly joined him at around 9pm and would then take over the shift as well as work there on Saturday evenings. Compared to Youngjae the other part-timer had one more day off and was able to maintain some friendships outside of his classes other than Youngjae who spend almost all Saturday in the shop.  
Even if they often closed the shop way past 1am which was their actual closing time it was more than likely to happen almost daily that one of them had to stay longer because the last customer didn’t leave till one of them stepped at their table saying that it was their closing time and since both of them were in University they mostly took turns as to who had to finish everything up so the other got some more sleep. But these past few weeks Youngmin mostly volunteered to clean the shop alone because he didn’t had an early morning classes anymore he had some more hours he was able to sleep not like Youngjae who’s classes always started at 8AM.  
The coffee shop was in the middle of what you could call the “party neighborhood” of Seoul, Hongdae. So it is to no surprise that on the Saturday nights Youngjae worked there often were customers who came inside to kinda sober up with a coffee, this was still a mystery to him as to why people would get coffee to sober up when there was Haejang-guk, the Korean hangover soup that would not just put caffeine into your system but also fill your stomach with food.  
"Yes, I have hyung as I do every day." This was almost a routine for them asking the other if he had done his duties of the day not to control each other but more to be sure to not have to do this later at night when they were alone. Youngmin maybe also asked this so when Jaeeun would open the shop the next morning would find the shop a mess and mostly scold Youngmin for it. She hated to have to do it in the morning when the time itself was already scarce to clean all the shelves once again before the first customers came. It also did not help that she besides the serving and preparing the coffee still had to do a part of the administration work since she and her friend, who ran the coffee shop, divided the work between themselves.

"Youngjae-ah when you have time you could head downstairs and get a good look from close up for once. I mean you have been dying to see them dancing from closer for so long and I can’t stand that view in your eyes anymore. I know we are just fellow co-workers and aren’t really friends even if I want to be but we never are able to meet up outside, but please! For once go out! You have been way too obvious staring outside whenever they were performing almost sticking your nose to the window to get a better view.", Youngmin spoke and patted encouragingly on the shoulders of the younger one.

Youngjae sighed, how many times had he held this conversation with Youngmin and Jaeeun? How often had he explained to them that he would rather see the whole performance from the top than standing in the crowd and could see only just someone and not the whole group. He would not mind watching any of the dancers from nearer, but he simply hated to stand in such crowds and be mobbed by all those people who tried to get a better view.

"You know what? I've got an idea," Youngmin said with a wide grin on his face.  
"Whatever you thought you were, hyung my answer is no!" Youngjae knew Youngmin too well, he could only guess that the older one was up to something.  
"Oh, come on Youngjae-ah when was the last time we both had our fun?" This was the truth, but what did Youngmin probably mean with having fun and how did he intend to have it?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was obviously exactly what Youngjae did not wanted to do what Youngmin had in mind. Because only a few hours later, when he was finishing up all his duties for his shift, Youngmin grabbed him by his sleeve, dragged him out of the coffee shop and onto the square just in front of the building. How they both were able to step outside? Jaeeun showed up not too long ago and was now ‘guarding’ the shop she had winked at him when he was being shoved outside by the older, so she was in this with Youngmin.

When they stepped outside Youngjae realized that it had gotten dark and a bit colder as well, he was glad that he had put on his thin cardigan he had worn in the morning. But despite the cooler air around them there were still so many people on the square. Music was coming to his ears from each direction as every shop played music quiet loudly as well as the street performers turned up their speakers as much as they could. So all he could hear was a mix of all different kind of songs you can imagine. The people watching the performers formed circles around them to give them enough space but still to see them dance or sing.  
As said earlier a normal ‘nightlife’ in Hongdae. Youngmin took Youngjae by his arm and dragged him into the crowd and didn’t stop till both of them were in the second row for the group he usually observed from below.  
It was obvious that the five dancers, that were present at the moment, immediately recognized him as well as Youngmin. The reason? Well, three of them came up to him immediately and began to talk.

"Wuaaa, so you finally managed to come down and watch us from up close." Said a fairly tall dancer, his hair obviously dyed to red, Youngjae knew that this was one of the exchange students but he was only able to guess his name.  
"Yes, exactly Bam-ah now he is finally able to see our performance for real and not just through the window," said a second slightly smaller dancer. The blonde was rather lean and tall while the other was nearly the same size as Youngjae but had broader shoulders.  
"I can’t wait to see JB-hyung’s reaction when he sees our dear Barista here," said the third, pulling the other two with him towards the center where all their belongings were. There was mostly one of them at their usual place to secure it during the day so no one else would take their spot.

"Hyung did you ever see one of their performances from here?" Youngjae asked suddenly, which made the older grin.  
"Of course. Me and Jaeeun-noona have already seen some of their performances and the others here as well. There is almost nothing better for a first date place than Hongdae. You can just walk around and watch all those different performances. Through the various personalities you see here you can also easily get into a conversation. So if you ever ask me for a date advice, come here. Run around and just have fun. And just enjoy the happy, exuberant mood of this part of Seoul." Youngjae still remembered clearly how Youngmin and Jaeeun got together. At first both of them kept on throwing glances to the other and then turning their gazes away whenever the other would turn around, getting red when someone mentioned the others name (Yes even when they were working alongside each other and calling each others name for something they would turn red). And now after more than half a year of them almost openly flirting with each other but still denying it whenever someone would tease them Youngmin finally took all his courage and asked Jaeeun out. Youngjae was happy for them they looked really nice together and also matched each others personalities just perfect. When he first started working in the coffee shop he just never had thought that they would ever end up going out, simply because there wasn’t one day that passed that when they wouldn’t quarrel. Even if they were both like Tom and Jerry, sometimes chasing each other through the coffee shop after the other made a joke, they still ended up growing romantic feelings for each other over the time.

"Hyung! Finally you're here! They're all waiting!" Again the voice of the red haired sounded loudly over all other noises. Through the crowd, the dancer he had always been watching made his way towards his group. How did the boy just call him a few minutes ago Jaeibi? Jeebi? He didn’t expect that the dancer would have a nickname, because he knew his real name since everyone on campus just knew all of their names. Im Jaebeom. And yeah he knew all the names but he still didn’t really knew the faces that matched them as he never really got to see them seperately. So before he had only been able to guess who was who, but he always was really bad with names and it took him weeks if not months to remember the names of his classmates already so how would he be able to know the names if he never really had talked to anyone of the group.  
The dancer now reached his group with a grin to the younger one and ruffled through his hair, as well as murmuring something that wasn’t meant for the crowd and only the group was able to hear and made all of them laugh expect for the red haired boy he was the only one to look slightly scared and annoyed at the newly arrived dancer.  
"Hyung! Stop that!" The frustration that the straightened hair was now gone was written all over his face and he tried to fix his hair with a small mirror he had in his back pocket. Yes that must be Bambam the exchange student from Thailand who always cared about his fashion and his style in general. He also tried his best to dress his friends to what he thought was the best as well, only to fail miserably since they simply didn’t care like he did.  
This only made the whole group laugh out loud Youngjae could see that shortly after that, once Bambam was again satisfied with his hairstyle, they formed a circle and probably discussed briefly how the evening was supposed to go. What he noticed was that one of the dancers that had stepped to him earlier was now with his face towards him and looked at him in amusement and a big smile spreads over his face only to be followed with him starting to talk really enthusiastically to his friends.  
"OK, OK Jackson! Today you can look for the lucky one in the crowd. What did he eat earlier that he is suddenly so hyper? Did anyone give him an Americano to drink?" The celebration dance the guy named Jackson danced looked like he won in the lottery.  
"Yes! Today is such a good day!" Youngjae turned his head slowly to Youngmin with a what-does-that-mean look to the older one. Youngmin just raised his shoulders in a shrug, it was not as if he knew the dancers any better than the younger did.  
The dancer who always caught Youngjae’s eyes took one of the microphones after a few minutes arranging all their belongings and began to speak loudly as his eyes glided through the crowd.  
"Hello everyone. We will start our performance in a bit. Most of you know us for those that don’t we are GOT7 the performance group you should not miss out and with that we will now start without any further delays." As soon as he finished talking he put the microphone away, one of the others had turned the music on and the whole group went into position.

Youngjae almost could not believe how different the performance was from up close. From the coffee shop, he had all in view and could see the whole performance, but many of the small gestures were lost in the distance. Gestures as if the dancers pushed each other away, pulled behind the respective other grimaces or came really close to the fans. What did the girls behind the them call it? Ah yes, fanservice.  
Something the Youngjae knew from the group was that they for almost every session they pulled somebody from the crowd into the middle off their circle and then they dance around the person. Fortunately, he and Youngmin were not in the front row, so chances of getting dragged inside were fairly small.

A few songs passed just like that without anything out of ordinary. Obviously Youngjae’s eyes always followed one dancer especially even if he would go to the side if there was a song he didn’t participate in dancing with the other members. It was when one song started to play Youngjae knew that they would go and pick someone out of the crowd and dance around that person. Hating the idea of getting dragged in and being at the center of everyone’s attention he tried to hid behind the little girl in front of him. But as he kept on looking at the black haired dancer he missed Jackson appearing from the side in front of him. He at first smiled at the little girl, it looked like he would take her small hand and take her to the center but his hand reached further to Youngjae’s hand and gently moved the girl out of their way.  
“You can’t imagine how long we have been waiting to do so our little barista.” he sing sang while Youngjae looked in panic at Youngmin who was just grinning at the others misery.  
“No please, can’t you take that little girl instead?” Jackson just grinned at him and kept on dragging him to the middle.  
Up till that moment the dancer he had been watching had not spotted him. But now that Youngjae was standing in the middle and all of them surrounded him while dancing there was no way he did not see him.

“Jackson I’m going to kill you later.” heard Youngjae, words that were only able to stay in the middle as the dancer kept his voice low. This earned him a wide grin from the others. One of them had at some point taken his phone away from him and whispered a “You will get it back later.” and put it to their bags. So now he had to stay till they finished their performances and had some time to catch their breaths and took some pictures with some of their audience (mostly girls) would gather around them to get a picture with at least one of them. But that will be much later now it was just around the first half of the performance. And the song started to play. Youngjae just knew too well how they usually played around during this performance. ‘Played’ as in when they had a male dragged inside their circle they would come up really close and being all flirty with the viewer. Everything seemed to happen in a flash. Jaebeom the leader of the group stepped closer to him. They were now so close that their noses could touch any moment if one of them would make an abrupt movement. It was definitely too close for Youngjae’s comfort. He could feel how his whole head was turning red and his heartbeat rising. This was not happening to him no this must be a dream. He must have fallen asleep at the counter like he did once before. The dancer threw a small smile at the shorter boy, it almost looked like he was teasing him over something. Just like that he stepped away continuing with the choreography with the others.

“Jackson you so will get it later!” was once again murmured in the small circle. This time the other five dancers all started to laugh loudly while still moving around smoothly. Meanwhile Jackson looked terrified only now realizing that the older really meant what he said.  
"But hyung you will thank me for this later for sure!" he said while trying to move as far away from the older dancer as possible in his situation. Youngjae almost forgot the whole crowd around them, while watching the group bickering softly with each other. He had also forgotten that Youngmin was probably watching each and every moment of him and would tease him later when they would get back to work again. But it didn't matter to him in that moment. Even if the dancers were moving around him he kept on turning to see Jaebeom moving around smoothly. The other also kept on glancing at him with a small smile on his lips the previous anger that he had shown at his friend long gone but could this still be part of their performance?  
The song ended without Youngjae realizing it. The crowd clapped and cheered for the dancers which all took a step back to grab one of their dozen bottles of water. Youngjae wanted to go to them to get his phone back but one of the group gestured him to come back later while smirking at him and putting his phone away into another bag. A sign that couldn't be any clearer. 'You will get it back later'.

And so he walked back to the spot he and Youngmin had been before he could spot him still at the exact same place smiling brightly at him.  
"You enjoyed that a lot right?" Youngjae asked the older.  
"Of course. And I got it all in here as well." he answered while pointing to his phone. A groan escaped Youngjae's lips. Not that everyone had seen him getting all shy and red while being in the center of the performance no his coworker had also filmed it.  
"I have to say you both looked nice with each other." he heard softly. Confused he turned his head to his co-worker and asked what he just said.  
"You two just now. The way you looked at each other couldn't be any more obvious and even now his eyes follow every move you make." Youngjae only snickered at this. Why would such a talented dancer and handsome on top of that be watching him now that he was so far away from him.  
"Oh dear Youngjae don't question what I just said it's simply the truth."


	2. Step Two

Once again the same scene was seen in the small but cozy living room. A little girl was sitting on the elders lap staring at all the different pictures that were displayed in the book. A few pages were more battered then others. Pages that showed scenes either one of them had taken a picture sneakily behind the others back or they had posed together during their travels or just at some random occasion one of them had felt the need to save this, even if they both knew that the memory itself didn't needed to be printed out as all their memories were deeply imprinted in each others minds and showed in their daily life and actions towards each other. There was one picture that made the little girl giggle every time she saw it.  
"Grandpa, did you take this picture of Granddaddy?" she asked while still giggling and pointed at one specific picture that made the elder laugh out loud as well.  
"Yes and I also took this picture while your Granddaddy fell asleep on my couch in my old apartment. You know you should never fall asleep when I am still fully awake and my phone is fully charged and we planned to watch a movie together." he explained memories from that specific night flooding his mind. The smile never left his face and the little girl looked at him with a smile that was almost as bright as his.  
"Does he always sleep with his mouth open or was his nose stuffy grandpa?" A burst out of laughter filled the room and he stroke over the little girls hair.

In the door frame from the living room appeared a face he knew to well, he had seen it change over all these years and even if they both now had more wrinkles than they could count the two small dots above the left eye of the man still was clearly visible.  
“Are you two ganging up on me again?” he said with a rather raspy voice he probably just got up from his short nap something the older had started to take nowadays after lunch to 'regain energy when he had to babysit their little granddaughter'.  
“Never would we do so love, we just discussed about your sleeping habits you had and still have.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just like that the performance continued. The six dancers once again swooned each and every person that stayed and watched them dance. When they were wrapping up the performance Youngjae almost went back with Youngmin totally forgetting about his earlier taken phone.  
"Don't you want your phone back? You should go get it I will head back for now so, take your dear time I should be able to handle it." Youngmin shouted while walking past everyone on the small street, winking at him wile saying he should take his time and sprinting the few steps up to the coffee shop. Youngjae hesitated for a moment. Sure he needed his phone back but stepping towards them and talking to them sounded so unreal and so not like something he would usually do that he stayed at the same spot for a moment watching how young girls surrounded each member asking for a photograph or even a video with the dancers. It was utterly chaos on the small alley.  
"It's nothing Youngjae! You're just going to get back your phone and then leave again." he mumbled to himself while taking a deep breath. It took him a few minutes to get closer to them and spot the right bag and so the person he had to approach to get what was his back.  
"You must be kidding me." he muttered to himself. The bag the dancer had put his phone into was dangling from no one else than Jaebeom's shoulder. He had thought that it would be the one that had taken his phone at first but it seemed like they all really liked playing around with him. Taking a deep breath and all the courage he had in him he made the last few steps towards him.  
"E-excuse me?" he asked softly and tipped on the others shoulder "I think your friend put my phone into your bag earlier. Can I have it back, please?", once again he could feel how the heat was forming on his face. He probably looked like he got a really bad sunburn by now. Before the dancer even was able to answer him the others popped up from behind and talked loudly with each other. In all the chaos the six dancers created while talking with each other Jaebeom's bag was being taken from his shoulder once again and wandered from one person to the next.  
"Hey wait! My phone is in there!" he said before the bag was once again taken further away from him. Sighing he stared at the person holding on to the bag who grinned back at him.  
"Bambam get back here and give this poor guy his phone back. Let's be normal for just a minute please!" Jaebeom said while rolling his eyes and trying to grab said dancer.  
"Only under one condition hyung!" Bambam said while the grin now turned into a smirk on his face. Jaebeom took a deep breath and asked what condition that would be then. Even if Youngjae's eyes mostly kept on looking at Jaebeom he couldn't help but notice how the whole group was acting with each other not just like friends but more like real brothers. He could see two bickering in the back while the other three were standing side by side all three had now suddenly a mischievous smile on their faces.  
"Our hardworking barista here will get your phone number hyung and then I will give him his phone back." A loud snort was heard from the dancer as well as a loud laughter from the rest of the group following a "This was not my idea hyung this is all Bam's doing.", one of them said while trying to suppress his laughter for a bit but miserably failing.  
Sure friends tended to tease each other as well but probably not to the contend they just did and making Jaebeom giving out his number was also something. Like why would they want that a stranger like Youngjae was to them have his phone number and be able to do god what knows with it. Also did he just see that two of them just high-five each other?

Jaebeom turned towards Youngjae again his face showed that he wanted to apologize because of his friends. The younger couldn't help but feel kinda bad for the other.  
"It's OK you don't need to apologize but just one question Bambam. How am I supposed to get his phone number when you have my phone and I don't have any paper he could write it on and I don't think neither does anyone of you.", baffled by this answer Bambam's eyes turned towards the others trying to get help from anyone of them. As if he suddenly got an idea he opened Jaebeoms bag, which earned him a growl from the other who didn't seem to like it when someone was touching his belongings and took out Youngjae's phone.  
"I will take a wild guess and say your password or whatever you call it is an easy one and from all the fingerprints I can see on it it should be this one. And stop laughing Jinyoung hyung I am still an exchange student and you know I still have to attend these language classes so shhh." the lean dancer said, one of the two who bickered with another dancer earlier looked at him with a smirk and said something that only the other dancer next to him seemed to catch as he suddenly started to laugh, meanwhile Bambam swiped the locked screen with his finger a motion that looked to 100% like the one had saved. A wide grin appeared on his face as the phone indeed was unlocked with that simply code.  
"So hyung now it's your turn." with that the phone was passed to Jaebeom who intended to just give it further to Youngjae only to get it taken out of his hands again by Jackson who then started tipping into his phone for a bit to then finally give it back to it's rightful owner.  
"You all will get it tomorrow at practice for real." Jaebeom pressed out between his lips. "I'm really sorry after our performances they sometimes still have way to much energy left for their own good. You can just delete my number again. I hope you enjoyed to see us tonight and hopefully you will be able to finish your shift soon as well." with this he made a small bow and tried to get the group back to all their belongings to clean up the space they had used to perform. Youngjae hesitantly bid goodbye to them as well, some of them enthusiastically waved at him and said that they couldn't wait to see him soon again and hurried the stairs to the coffee shop. Wondering why they would see him soon again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once he reached the entrance to his work place he still couldn't believe what just had happened, not just the performance part but also how they all just interacted with him as if they had been close ever since. When he stepped behind the cashier desk he could see from the corner of his eyes Youngmin sliding from the small kitchen next to him making big eyes.  
"So, did you talk?" without even trying to be subtle about it Youngmin got straight to the point.  
"Of course he had my phone how else would I have gotten it back?" talking about his phone he still was dazed as to why Bambam had intended to not give his phone back until he got Jaebeoms number saved. Which reminded him to actually check if he had saved it or if he had just daydreamed it. While scrolling through his contacts he had in his phone looking for that one contact he didn't save himself and there it was 'Im Jaebeom aka JB aka Im leader".  
"What is it that made you turn all pale? Did you get his phone number or he yours? Don't tell me he even texted you just now" Youngmin asked while having a big grin on his face. As if everyone was now against him the sound of a new incoming text message popped up on his phone from said contact. How in the world did that Jackson guy type that fast to save a contact as well as send a message? Without answering Youngmin he opened said message with slightly shaking fingers.

The message send from his phone was:  
'Hi~ This is Youngjae you know the barista guy.' A message written that couldn't be any more different from his usual way to talk/write but it also made him wonder how the dancer knew his name. But the reply he got made him stumble from his chair.  
'Hi Youngjae~ I hope my friends didn't disturb you too much I swear it must be the smoothies they had earlier this afternoon way too much sugar for them. Anyways I hope you will have a good rest and see to you soon. Jaebeom'

Youngjae had to hold onto the counter for a moment. Did this really just happen? Did he really just get a text message from Jaebeom and wasn't dreaming? He reread the message he got. How could a human being be so perfect? He was polite, talented, handsome and even worried that his friends bothered him when it was not really much they were just a bit too hyper. Youngmin eyed him a bit worried.  
"Don't tell me I'm right. Like I didn't expect you to actually go and get his number. That's a big step for you remember how we only exchanged ours weeks after you started working here?" Youngmin said with a surprise look on his face.  
"It was not like I asked for it or wanted to exchange it but kinda had to as one of the group insisted to not give me my phone back until I have it saved but another guy in the end saved it into my phone. He was so quick in typing that he even send a message from my phone to Jaebeom in my name. And he just replied to that." Youngmin's eyes and the smile grew bigger as he suddenly started to do a small 'Yes finally' motion with his hands. A 'Finally!' left the olders mouth obviously more than happy for him.  
“Stop it hyung. We need to clean up so we can get off on time today." Youngjae murmured and started to clean every shelf he could find, not realizing that they still had over an hour left till it was actually closing time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Youngjae didn't reply to the message he had received from Jaebeom, he simply didn't know what to say being the shy and awkward self he always was in situations like this. Monday came and it was time for him to get back to his classes and his books and his music. His comfort zone.  
The day started like it usually did, him having to run to get to his first class on time because he overslept his alarm(s) once again. Hurrying from one class to the next one, remembering that he had to return one of his books today and get another one for one of his upcoming class this week.

Once he reached the library after he dropped by his dorm to get the book he had to return by today it was actually time for lunch but he rarely ate in the cafeteria. So he just had a sandwich which he ate while walking to his dorm and then to the library. He would eat something properly later when he was at work and Youngmin would be complaining about being hungry anyways so one of them would go out to get something for both of them or just order like what they mostly did.

After a few minutes of looking for a free seat where he would be able to look into the book he just got and has been waiting for weeks to get it, it was a book about music therapy. It was a book his professor in music therapy class has recommended to him. He had fourty minutes left till his next class would start and it was also not too far away so Youngjae decided to start reading in the book and find out why his professor had recommended this specific book to him. He started to mark paragraphs and got so into the book that he lost track of time and everything around him. Because of that he didn't notice how suddenly the before really quiet library suddenly was filled with murmurs. Someone unexpected had entered the library shocking even the librarian at her desk. Youngjae didn't see or hear anything around him, he also didn't realize that said person was taking a seat right in front of him taking out a few books himself just to look as if he was studying but keeping his eyes on the diligent student in front of him.

"You know I kinda was sad you didn't reply to my message." These words somehow reached Youngjae's ears and made him wonder who would be so bold and talk so loud in the library, knowing that their librarian would kick anyone out that would be too loud in her opinion. So Youngjae shortly glanced up from his book, intending to look around in the room trying to see who was talking to who only to find Jaebeom sitting right opposite of him. A small shout of surprise left his mouth which earned him a loud "Shhh!" from the entrance.  
"Oh my god. What are you doing here?" he whispered as low as humanly possible.  
"I knew you would be here and well as I said not replying made me sad so I wanted to see you. And everyone knows where our next music therapist spends most of his time next to the classes and the practice room." Although Jaebeom obviously was talking louder no shush sounds were directed towards him, something that made him pout because he thought it was a bit unfair. This was something his good looks and his popularity must be good for being able to do stuff without getting scolded immediately. Youngjae didn't know how to reply to this just like he didn't know how to reply to the text message.

What did he expect him to say? Yes sure his fingers had been itching the whole night to type something to reply him but he also didn't wanted to embarrass himself even more in front of the other. He also had typed several messages and was really close to sending it but deleted it before he could do so.  
"I just didn't know what to say and it's not like we would talk to each other again. Or I thought we wouldn't." he whispered once again. There wasn't much time left till the next class he realized as he could feel his phone vibrating in his pocket, a signal that he only had 10 minutes left.  
Because of that alarm he knew he had to leave now to make it in time. Even if he wanted to talk more with Jaebeom, his studies meant so much to him and he worked so hard to be where he was now. He put the book back into his bag and looked up to Jaebeom. Who was observing his every move.  
“We can talk after our classes. We can meet up at the gate if you want to.” Youngjae didn’t know where his confidence suddenly came from and how he was able to say his thoughts out loud.  
“Let’s get a coffee before your shift in the coffee shop starts.” answered Jaebeom, standing up from his seat and it seemed like he would leave the library first but he waited till Youngjae had put everything back into his bag and was ready to leave as well. Youngjae could feel how everyone in the library was observing them. He for sure wasn’t used to this attention and wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. He could already hear the gossip going around campus about this later.  
As fast and as quiet as humanly possible he left the library, Jaebeom following him just a few steps behind. He still could feel how everyone was following their moves until the door to the library closed behind them. Even if he wanted to take a deep breath now that the tension that was surrounding them in the library was gone there still was Jaebeom walking closely behind him.  
"My class will end at 3 o'clock so I will wait outside at the gate for you." he said while turning around facing the older. The expression on the dancers face was hard to read. He just nodded and walked past him. It really looked like he older was mad at him for not texting him. But there was nothing he could do now and he was also curious why the dancer wanted to talk to him?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Youngjae said he would wait at the gate for the older he meant it but his plans didn't work out as he thought. His professor held him back to ask him if he was able to read the book yet he had recommended. And so he got into a deeper and longer conversation that Youngjae forgot about him promising to meet up with Jaebeom. He was able to ask about a few paragraphs he had marked earlier in the library and discuss some parts that he didn't get right away.  
After hearing the bell announcing the next lesson he only realized that he was late and had the older left waiting for good twenty minutes. So he excused himself from his professor and sped through the corridors towards the main entrance of the building where the main gate was the nearest.

It's been a while since he had run this much and this fast. When Youngjae saw a figure leaning on to the gate he took his last energy to run towards this person. Slithering Youngjae came to a halt in front of Jaebeom who had been patiently waiting for him.  
"I'm so sorry.", he panted and held onto his side as it had started to hurt from all the running his body was clearly not used to. "My professor asked me about the book he recommended to me and I forgot the time I'm so sorry." He truly felt sorry now, he wasn't a person to break his promises. When he looked at Jaebeom the older didn't seem angry at all, there even was a small smile on his face.  
"It's ok I was running late as well." he said while looking directly into his eyes.  
"Really?" Relief started to flow through Youngjae's body.  
"No he wasn't but he just doesn't want to make you feel too bad Youngjae hyung.", he heard from behind him. A voice he knew now too well.  
"Bambam I told you to just leave with the others." The younger dancer stepped next to Youngjae and smiling at him.  
"No way hyung. I somewhat knew that you two would be meeting up today. You know my sixth sense." while talking he had put his arm around Youngjae's shoulder. He was caught off-guard, the younger acted almost as if they were the closest friends not knowing where his personal bubble was.  
"Bam-ah!" the low voice of Jaebeom was heard. The way he said his friends name clearly was a warning, a warning the younger decided to ignore.  
"You know Youngjae hyung you're an inspiration to some of us freshman like there is not one teacher that wouldn't love to have you in their class again." He kept on talking to Youngjae about how envious he was to be that good in every class, how he couldn't imagine having to work like he did and that he once heard him play piano in a practice room and that he was humming to it as well.  
"Wait you did what?" Youngjae mostly had thought that he was alone when he was in a small practice room in his department as the floor it was located on was mostly empty and not many students would be seen there as they tended to look for a room where they could be together with their friends. But Youngjae was contend with that small room where he could play around with the piano put different notes together and yes sometimes he would even sing along with it when he was playing a song that was stuck in his head.  
“Yes me and Jaebeom have heard you a few times when we have to pass that corridor to get to our practice room.”  
"Bam if you don't leave now I swear you will regret it!" Hasn't he said something similar to his friends when they were in Hongdae the weekend before? A small smile crept onto Youngjae's face. He thought that it was cute to see how the two friends bickered with each other but it showed just how close they were.  
"We are leaving now! We wanted to talk before your shift starts remember?" Jaebeoms voice sounded annoyed and tore Youngjae away from his thoughts.  
"Talk to you soon hyung." spoke Bambam while waving at the two leaving people.  
"That hyung is way to obvious." he snickered but these words didn't reach the two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once both of them stepped off campus and walked around the era closest to the subway station Youngjae was once again at loss. He had never imagined that Im Jaebeom would get out of his dance studio to spend some time with him. He didn't get why he would do so. Because after all he was not as talented as the other was or as popular. Why would he want to hang out with him?  
"Stop thinking so hard Youngjae we are almost here." Jaebeoms voice broke the silence that had surrounded them while walking. But he couldn't help it he kept on thinking why and why him? Even though he had been able to mentally prepare himself for this he got nervous by the thoughts of having to talk with his long time crush just like this.  
Sure he had imagined talking to him but those were scenarios only playing in his mind. Like a scene they would hit it off right away, both sure about their feelings and neither of them to shy stuttering over his own words. But this was the reality and he was just that introverted guy he always has been. So there they both were walking in silent side by side, both awkward with what to do next and neither of them taking the initiative.

"Let's go in here." Jaebeom said while pointing at a coffee shop on their left. The angel theme inside displayed the name of the coffee shop. He couldn't help but laugh a bit at the cheesiness of this.  
"Well at least the coffee here is good." Jaebeom mumbles obviously slightly embarrassed.  
"Do you want to say the coffee I make isn't good?" Youngjae once again was surprised at how confident he suddenly got next to Jaebeom.  
"Well to be honest I only got to drink it once till now, might have to change that and I come and get one every day when you work." These words made Youngjae stop a few steps away from the cashier. Had he heard correctly? Just what was going on why was Im Jaebeom suddenly acting like this towards him? Why did it look like he suddenly wanted to get closer to him?  
Also what was up with himself? He acted so out of character and he knew it himself. What was it that triggered it? What was it that made him want to not be the shy and awkward self in front of Jaebeom? And answers like he just gave came out of his mouth that easily.  
If someone would have asked him the week before if he ever would be drinking coffee with the by everyone loved dancer he would have strongly denied ever being able to talk to him. He still couldn't believe what had happened the past weekend and it seemed like it wouldn't end just there as well.

"What would you two like to order?" the voice of a female worker asked them while obviously staring at Jaebeom, of course he was good looking and there probably wasn't anyone who wouldn't stop in their track to get a good look at him.  
"One iced americano and one dark milk tea please." Jaebeom said to the girl behind the cashier desk, which surprised Youngjae. Two drinks for himself? He was about to say that he would like one iced americano as well when Jaebeom softly shoved him away from the cashier and towards an occupied small table. Did he order for him as well? But how did he know that he always had an iced americano?

"I know that the message sent from your phone wasn't actually from you but from that dork Jackson." Jaebeom started to say while sitting down at a small table with two chairs opposite of each other and looking directly into Youngjaes eyes. Jackson was Jaebeoms good friend so it was easy for him to tell a message from him apart from others.  
“Like I don't think you would ever describe yourself as 'the barista guy' wouldn't you right?” Obviously he wouldn't.  
"If he did something or the others that made you uncomfortable I'm sorry. As well for Bambam. That guy doesn't know where his limits are. I really wanted to talk more to you after finally starting a conversation with you somewhat. You know I had planned to talk to you for a while now but never had the courage to do so and yeah I know everyone else would think otherwise about me. The Im Jaebeom too shy to talk to someone? Almost unbelievable right? But I do want to get to know you properly Youngjae." If Youngjae wouldn't be sitting there in a coffee shop surrounded by other people and even pinching his arm while listening to the dancer kinda suddenly pouring out his heart to him, he would have thought that this must be one of his dreams. Also has he ever heard the dancer talk this much off stage? He was usually not the one that talked or was heard talking.  
Taking a deep breath Youngjae gathered all his courage once again to say what was on his mind.  
"I'm sorry I didn't reply. I-I-I just didn't know what to say." he said softly just like on Friday he could feel the heat forming in his cheeks and spreading all over his face. There was so much Youngjae wanted to say to the other but he couldn't do so now. He fidgeted the sleeve of his jacket with his fingers. The nervousness he tried to suppress up till then fully hitting him now. As if wanting to break the awkwardness between the two young men the device Jaebeom had received earlier after he ordered the drinks started to vibrate and blink in front of them. Youngjae intended to grab it and go get the drinks but Jaebeom was faster and left him with a small smile.

Shortly afterwards he returned with two cups in his hands, sat back down and put the iced americano in front of Youngjae.  
"How did you know that I would want to drink this?" Youngjae asked, how did the older knew that when he got coffee it would always be an americano?  
"I know a lot more about you than you probably think I do.", this startled Youngjae slightly and also made him wonder. He knew more about him than he thought? How could he know him when they had never talked to each other before? And he had thought that Jaebeom didn't even know he existed.  
"I know this will make me sound like a creep if I say it but I asked everyone around you about you. Even if it were just small things they could tell me because you are so shy and tend to not talk much or at all to others except for when you're in class or at work. I even talked with your coworker once but he didn’t want to tell me anything he said that I should talk with you instead of everyone around you. And well he was right instead of sneaking around you I should have tried to approach you immediately instead of this," Jaebeom spoke while looking at his own hands holding onto his cup, he looked nervous. It should scare Youngjae that someone he wasn't close to begin with wanted to get to know him and to do so had gone around asking everyone related to him but it didn't. He had wanted to do the same but he never had the courage to step towards someone and ask about the dancer without being too obvious.

"You don't sound like a creep to me... well just interested I guess. Even if I don't get why you would be interested in me though." This was a problem he always had, his low self-esteem. Like why would anyone else like him? He was just an ordinary university student not particularly handsome, witty or talented. Sure he was good at studying and memorizing which led him to be at the top of his classes you could call him a nerd but this was what he was good at and nothing special next to that. OK he had some decent piano playing skills as well but not to the extend he would ever play it for someone else if it's not connected to his music therapy.

"Who made you pull this? I mean why me? I am just me, just the boring Choi Youngjae the guy that hardly opens his mouth to talk. Do you want to know what my daily no my weekly routine is?", all of this must be a prank he couldn't take him seriously. Youngjae just didn't believe that anyone would be interested in him when all he did was study, work to pay off his tuition fees drop into bed and repeat.  
"You thinks this is a joke? That no one is interested in you? How could anyone not be interested in you? Like you are friendly, kind and polite to everyone. You help anyone in your class if they have a problem and they ask for your help, your on top of every class you take, you know what you want to be in the future, when you play the piano you tend to forget everything around you and when you're at work you give a smile at everyone that steps into the shop. There are so many sides to you from being shy and awkward with people to you suddenly breaking out in a minute long discussion because of a topic you just had in class and these sides make you well you." Jaebeom had shifted his gaze from his cup to Youngjae's face, his eyes looking at him almost as if he saw something precious something he wanted to protect.

"Listen Youngjae. I think up till now you never really saw that everyone around you respects you, yes they leave you alone but they respect you. Most of your classmates would love to bond with you more but they know how hard working you are to achieve your dream. Has there ever been anyone actually pulling a prank on you? I don't think so." Youngjae didn't know what to reply to that. He had never really thought about that. Thinking back, even if he was a mostly alone and barely even was able to call Youngmin his friend (even if the older insisted that they were) because they only meet at work and haven't seen each other outside of their work environment. But they had on some random occasions seen each other like when once Youngjae was looking for a certain book and the college library didn't had it so he checked each bookstore he was able to find and go to and on the way to one he met Youngmin on the street. Or more the older saw him and ran towards him to throw an arm around his shoulders, walking with him till the older got reminded that he had plans with Jaeeun and both of them know how she reacted when he was late.

“See you can't think of anything right?” Jaebeom said softly while looking at Youngjae with a small smile on his lips.  
“OK yes true I can't pinpoint one specific moment. But look I am awkward, I'm shy and well I am awkward with people. I am no social butterfly like you and your crew are. I rather surround myself with books than with people.”  
“Well that’s ok we can hang out together at the library like we did earlier. Fine for me that might be good for my grads as well.” Jaebeom suggested his voice and face showed nothing but pure honesty. Did he really recommend hanging out together at the library?  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea I mean the librarian was about to murder us or rather me because we were too loud.” he still remembered the gaze the librarian had shot at him earlier right before the door closed behind him and he didn’t wanted to risk not being able to return to the library later.  
“True we wouldn’t want to risk us getting kicked out and not being able to return to it later.” Jaebeom said exactly what was on his mind and he said it with a small smile on his face.  
“Are you mocking me right now?” Youngjae said raising his eyebrows.  
“Maybe?” was the answer he got from the older who's smile grew even wider.  
“Are you not scared that people will think when they see us together? Like you're Im Jaebeom I would say our dance representative of our university. Maybe our next nations best b-boy if not world wide.” Seriously what was wrong with him, these were things he was just thinking and didn't wanted to say. All the dancer did to this was laugh.  
“You know I by far am not the best in our university. Every year there are new students that dance all kind of different genres. And lately our performance group isn't choreographed just by me no the youngest takes a huge part in it already as well.”, the older revealed a proud smile appeared on his face.  
“You're proud of that dancer right? The way you just said that and the way you look has a 'Daddy's proud' vibe to it.” once again his mouth was faster than his mind and the words slipped through his lips before he could think about them.  
“Well I am indeed proud of him and the others as well but there would be no way I ever would want to be their dad. Like you met them and saw how Bambam's acting now imagine him and his best friend who is that said dancer when they are bored.” Laughter erupted from both of them.  
“But there is a lot of work behind of all our performances as well so we all grew really close in no time as you could guess from the way they acted last weekend. The two youngest are the best example for it they sometimes forget that they are our juniors and should show some respect at times or know their limits.” once again a similar smile is on Jaebeoms face “They also like to tease me a lot. Like what they did last weekend and just now Bambam that was nothing compared to what they usually do.” Jaebeom kept on talking now it seemed like talking about his group and dance in general was really comfortable for him and obviously he could go on and on about it. A small spark of jealousy crept up in Youngjae, hearing this made him realize how fun college could be but how he probably would never be able to enjoy it to a degree the older did up till now. It looked like Jaebeom realized the slight mood change of Youngjae since he suddenly stopped talking.  
“I'm sorry. I didn't wanted to bore you we aren't here to talk about these dorks anyway. Even if they helped me to finally start moving towards you which I wouldn't have done without them to be honest.”

The beverage in front of them was either getting cold now or the ice melted away, neither of them took a sip and just sat there quietly after their previous quite heated conversation. Jaebeom obviously still embarrassed about what he had just revealed he probably hadn't planed to do so this soon. And Youngjae, well Youngjae was just being himself not knowing what to say or response. His earlier remarks had been a one time moment where he spoke before his mind was able to interfere.  
“I will tell you one thing I probably will have to prove you with time. There is no 'I am better than you' that's just people trying to cover their insecurities by trying to pull others down. I will show you what I and what the others see in you. Not the nerd you called yourself. But the kind, gentle and always patient sunshine you are. I promise you from now one you will hear this a lot and well see me a lot more than you did up till now. And like Bambam exposed me earlier I will not sneak around you anymore because to be honest I did feel like a stalker. And now I think we have to leave your next shift starts in 15 minutes and I know by fact that if we get a subway right away you will arrive just in time.” And with that Jaebeom stood up from his seat taking his half finished drink and waited once again for Youngjae to move.  
“Oh my! Did we just talk for 40 minutes? Ok ok I really need to hurry now so. I guess we will see each other again?” the smaller said while also standing up and picking up his cup he would finish it on his way to Hongdae.  
“Yes tomorrow.” Jaebeom said.


	3. Step Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers ^-^
> 
> It's been a while again since my last update which I am sorry. Work and my last subject for my further education has kept me away from actually working on my fanfics on my laptop, but I have not abandoned it! And I hopefully will be able to write more starting mid April. So I hope you enjoyed reading this latest chapter and I wish you all a lovely day.
> 
> Mona

The young girl was once again seen running around the small garden. A small white fluff ball was running behind her, barking happily at her.  
"Is it just me or is Coco getting slower?" A deep voice said.  
"It's just that our dearest granddaughter is growing and poor Coco has such short legs she can't keep up with her much longer.", spoke another voice. Both ended up chuckling looking out of the window. Without a word they both reached for each others hand, after all these years no words were needed for them to know when they wanted or needed the comfortable warmth radiating from the other. Even after all these years they weren't able to stay away from each other for too long.  
The slightly smaller one started leaning his head on the others shoulder.  
"That used to be more comfortable. These days I feel like my body is starting to betray me by getting inflexible each passing day." muttered the shorter under his breath. A chuckle was heard from the other who now also leaned his head onto the shorter ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaebeom didn't joke when he said he would see Youngjae the next day.  
When Youngjae left his dorm in the early morning to rush to his first morning class, the older was leaning on the wall opposite of his door. He was startled and for sure not ready to face him this early when he was only half awake and his hair was the usual mess.  
"What are you doing here?" he spoke softly.  
"Good morning to you too Youngjae." Jaebeom said with a smile, he gestured Youngjae to keep on doing what he was supposed to do. What, for a moment confused him and didn't know what it was.  
"Shouldn't you lock the door before you leave?" Jaebeom's smile only grew with this. Youngjae couldn't help but groan under his breath, could this day start any worse? Why did his crush had to be there in the early morning when he wasn't completely awake yet to talk like a normal person why had he once again over slept and wasn't able to brew himself a cup of coffee and would be ready for an encounter with the dancer.  
"Oh! Yeah you're right I shouldn't forget to do that.", not that he often forgot to lock it because he was in such a hurry to get to his class on time.  
"But seriously what are you doing here? Won't you be late to your classes?" Youngjae said turning back to Jaebeom after securely locking his door.  
Sure he had said they would see each other the next day but this was just too unexpected and he still was half a sleep, for a second he had thought that he was still sleeping and now even dreaming of the dancer.  
Getting a coffee as soon as possible would be the best so he could properly function and won't embarrass himself even more in front of the other.

Once again he found himself speaking words he usually was too self-effacing to say.  
"Look I know we have talked well about this already but still we aren't even that close and I surely didn't expect you to know where I live but this here might be a bit creepy. Not that I don't like it but you know, kinda creepy." Maybe that was the wrong word he was just afraid, afraid that Jaebeom would see something that he would poke fun off later.  
"You my dear are in need of a coffee. Let's go we can talk later." he heard Jaebeom speaking while starting to walk down the corridor. Without any word Youngjae just followed him. Knowing that coffee would help him get to his normal self as well as being hopefully fully awake for his class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later the same morning when Youngjae was heading towards the cafeteria to get his lunch he noticed that it was even more packed than usual. He tried to see if he could spot an empty table somewhere but it seemed like the whole campus had decided that they would eat inside today. A sigh escaped his lips, he might as well take his food outside and eat on the stairs or somewhere where he would be able to enjoy some calm minutes, maybe even get a short nap before he had to get to his afternoon class.  
He was getting in line for the food when he overheard some guys who were standing in front of him talking.  
"The girls are going nuts just because the dance crew decided that today they would eat here. It might be impossible for us to find a table since everyone is now inside instead of outside enjoying the first warmer day this year." said one of them.  
"Yes like even the girls from our department are all here look over there! I wouldn't be surprised if they start to drooling soon." answered the other.  
As Youngjae heard this it all started to make sense. Glad that there were so many people now, he tried to make himself smaller and hid behind people so he would be able to avoid getting seen by Jaebeom. From the impression he had gotten earlier the dancer would for sure drag him to his table and make him eat with him and his friends. There was nothing he would avoid more than that because after that the whole campus would know that there was something up with him and the dancers. Even if there wasn't or was there?

He almost reached the cashier and was about to get his food in a moment when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
"There you are Youngjae." a brightly smiling Jaebeom stood right behind him.  
Great. The person he wanted to avoid the most, obviously has been waiting for him there where he knew the younger needed to get through to get his food.  
"Want to join is on our table? Bambam and Jackson were really excited when they saw you enter the cafeteria earlier, I barely got them to stay seated not that we want to pressure you eating with us." he leaned slightly closer to Youngjae while saying so, "Also you're next in line."

And so he ended up sitting on that one table he had wanted to avoid the most. Jaebeom on his right and Jackson on his left, the group kept on talking about some dance routine they were practicing and they wanted to show him. Youngjae wasn't quite able to follow what kind of song and routine it was as the subtle touches that happened between him and Jabeom every few moments drew his thoughts away from the ongoing conversation. Every time he could feel the warmth of the others arm near his own he could feel a tingling feeling in his chest. So he tried to listen again to what they were talking about but he simply didn't get as to what moves they were talking about as he wasn't really interested in dancing so much, yes sure watching them, aka mostly watching Jaebeom, was nice but he wasn't really interested in knowing the different genres and how some of the moves were called.  
Soon the youngest of the group, Yugyeom joined the conversation as he had finished eating his lunch and he now tried to demonstrate one movement after another and hit by accident another student who's tray full with his food slipped out of his hand. This caused the whole group to stop, Yugyeom apologizing for what he had done over and over again, while said student was stuttering, probably never had thought that one of the dancers would say a word to him.

Once the whole mess was cleaned and the student was on his way to get something else to eat, Yugyeom had at first insisted that he would pay for it but the student had vehemently declined.  
"Now I feel bad for him. Why wouldn't he let me pay for him?" Yugyeom pouted next to Jaebeom.  
'Adorable' thought Youngjae, the youngest of the group really was adorable, and he could imagine why the boy had declined because otherwise the whole campus would probably turn him into a bad boy, saying that he tripped on purpose and making the other pay for him just to get close with the dancer.  
Even at university some people weren't mature enough and loved gossiping about stuff like that. Youngjae couldn't help but imagine what in the mind of the other students was going on when they saw him sitting with the dancers, even if he just was eating lunch with them. Ever since he had sat down he hadn't spoken a word simply to terrified people would misunderstand him as well as he would embarrass himself in front of the group like he had proven before.

"What is going on in your beautiful mind Youngjae?" he got torn out of his thoughts by Jaebeom's voice.  
Had he been watching him the whole time? Could he just stop smiling at him like he did right now?  
"Nothing." he spoke softly. Suddenly an arm was swung over his shoulder. Jackson was leaning closer to him laughing.  
"There can't be nothing in a beautiful mind like yours, right Jaebeom hyung?" his tone sounded slightly mocking but was it towards him or towards Jaebeom?  
"Jackson you know what I told you before, hands off." the smile had shortly left the olders lips looking sharply at the other dancer. Snickering was heard from everyone around the table except for Youngjae. Hands off? That probably sounded more threatening that it was supposed to be.  
"You almost sound like Youngjae here is only reserved for you hyung. But I don't know if he would agree to that, right hyung?" Bambam said his first sentence was obviously meant for Jaebeom but with the later he had looked straight into Youngjae's eyes. What was he supposed to response to that? He didn't know. What he knew was that after this sentence all 6 pairs of eyes had been on him for a bit. He got out of this when his alarm had rung reminding him that his class would start in 15 minutes and he should finish eating soon to reach his class room on time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After finishing his lunch he hurried to get to his last class for the day. Glad to escape of the weird but funny group of friends.  
Jaebeom had been surprisingly silent except when he had asked him what had been on his mind. For the rest of the time he simply had been eating his food and observing his every and each move.  
"Ah Youngjae there you are." he heard the voice of his professor. Immediately Youngjae started to smile brightly how could he not when he was about to get into his favorite subject.  
"I'm sorry professor I got held up at the cafeteria and wasn't able to get here earlier." he usually went right after eating lunch, if his professor was running late he would either read in one of his many books about music therapy or just take a nap. But today had been different from the start, he just hoped that the rest of the day would be normal like he was used to.  
"I still haven't really been able to start reading the book you recommended to me professor. Some things came up just like today at lunch." he said while placing his bag at his usual table in the middle of the room. Even if he loved the subject he hated to sit in the front like people would probably imagine from him.  
"Yes news travel fast. I'm glad you finally found some friends and aren't spending your free time on your own anymore." the professor said with a smile on his face. Friends? What had already people been gossiping about and imagined that they had seen that his professor thought that the dancers were his friends?

The lesson started shortly after but somehow Youngjae wasn't able to concentrate like he used to be. His thoughts kept on drifting back to the group of friends.  
How would they react if they heard that they were confused to be his friends? Would they laugh at it because it was ridiculous? Or how would they react? Did they really meant no harm and wanted to get closer to him, especially Jaebeom? Was after all this for real and no bad joke like he had said it wasn't?

Without him realizing it the lesson ended and so he had some time on his own before he would have to head to the coffee shop later in the evening. He didn't feel like going to the library and getting stared at because that was what had been going on all day long. People staring at him, some even whispering, several times he had heard his name when he was passing by in the corridor. He didn't like this attention at all. He rather be invisible to everyone.  
Because he wanted to avoid literally everyone he decided to head towards the music room he mostly was at to simply play the piano and get his mind off of all the things that had happened over the past few days.

He loved to play songs he knew by heart but he also loved to simply play around with the sound resonate from the big instrument sometimes humming along with it. The music would calm him down, help him sort out his thoughts. He took a deep breath when he got the instrument ready to his liking. Soon his fingers were flying over the piano keys.  
A sound resonating through the room that was not just filling the room but also him.  
Later on he wouldn't fully remember what he had played only the melody would be stuck in his head. Sometimes at the coffee shop he would hum the melody because it was still playing in his head. Youngmin had asked him several times why he never recorded those short sessions he had, that he would love to hear it once. But whenever he set his phone ready to record his fingers wouldn't move as he wanted them. Deleting every record afterwards because he wasn't able to catch what he would be proud to show to someone else. His fingers had now stopped moving the sound fade away, a small smile on his lips. He could feel how some of the weight from his shoulders was lifted some of the bad thoughts he's had all day now had become smaller. He knew that he shouldn't distrust so much in other people and only think of the worst but that way if things turned bad he hadn't gotten his hopes up and wouldn't be as hurt as he could be if he thought about it positively.  
He didn't know how long he had been in the room getting lost in the music, sure his phone had still the alarm for when he had to leave the campus but that hadn't rung up till now, but it felt like he had been in there for hours.

When he left the small room he once again was met with the person that had been on his mind the whole time. The dancer was leaning on the wall a notebook in his hands writing down something rather swiftly.  
"Not hiding anymore I guess?" Youngjae spoke to Jaebeom. The older now turned his face from this notebook to him and smiled at him.  
"Why hide when you now know it's me?" Youngjae gulped. He didn't thought that the older would be so straight forward with this.  
"Thanks for being a silent listener but I gotta go now." Youngjae wanted to walk past Jaebeom and get on his way as if he was a bit earlier at his part-time job he would be able to get a cup of Youngmins special coffee before he would have to start working. But Jaebeom obviously had other plans. With long strides he was soon walking right next to Youngjae. They didn't talk or anything, he just walked next to him, occasionally looking towards him and then back forward so he wouldn't trip or bump into anyone.  
"You know you still are a good half an hour too early for work right?" he heard Jaebeom saying, so he even knew when he was supposed to start working?  
"I know but I guess you never came up to our shop to get Youngmin's special coffee right? You know what I will buy you one as well they are truly not from this world." He knew that Jaebeom would tag along to wherever he would be going anyways, he got to know him that well already. The smile that now was on Jaebeom's lip looked like he had gotten a big present.  
"I would love to try one with you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they arrived, Youngmin eyed Jaebeom and whispered something to him that Youngjae couldn't hear because of all the noises inside the coffee shop but he heard Jaebeom's answer.  
"I would be sad if you didn't." Youngjae could imagine Youngmin acting like his big brother trying to protect him to not get hurt by anyone.  
"Youngmin could you brew us two of your specials? I haven't had one for so long and for once I am way too early for my shift, please." He didn't wanted to go further into the topic the two had been whispering about. He had come for that coffee and he will get it. With that Youngmin went back behind the counter and started his magic.  
"Even if you don't really like coffee you will for sure like this one Jaebeom-sshi." getting excited to get the coffee he was starting to fidget around the tables.  
“Hyung” he heard from beside him, “You don't have to be so formal with me.” Jaebeom's eyes were fixed on Youngjae.  
The younger could feel how once again a blush creeped up his neck to his cheeks. A soft chuckle escaped the others lips when he saw that this just made him a bit flustered.  
“For how long have you been listening to me playing the piano?” it suddenly bursts out of Youngjae, that question had been on his mind since he had caught Jaebeom red handed.  
“A while. At first I just heard some notes whenever I was on my way to our practice room but it turned from hearing it in the hall to stopping and actually listening. You can't imagine how much the others teased me when they found out why I kept on being late for our practice.” Jaebeom's eyes never left Youngjae, but now a small smile also appeared on his face which made it difficult for Youngjae to breath so he broke their eye contact. Hoping that his heart will stop betraying him. He still couldn't believe that a guy as handsome and talented as Jaebeom was here with him, spending time with him, wanting to get to know him better.  
“I don't get why you can't seem to see just how bright you shine yourself. I know you just thought what a guy like me would be doing with you but believe me I am lucky to be able to spend time with you.” How was it possible to Jaebeom to know what his thoughts were? How insecure he was about himself and what to say to calm him down. It wasn't just his good looks and his talent that now attracted the young barrister but also his character. The way the older would look at him but also how he would say just the right words. Words that his heart somewhat hoped to be hearing earnestly someday.  
“Too much happened up till now to make me like this. To much happened that my mind automatically thinks off the worst to happen. You said that I shine bright but how come I myself can't feel that. That I feel insecure and not good enough.” his fingers started to tremble while speaking. Memories started to reface in his mind. Memories he thought he had locked out and had forgotten about them. He had to take a deep breath before continuing to talk.  
“Why is it that my mind keeps on telling me that I am not good enough for anyone?” he could feel tears starting to form in his eyes.  
“Who has hurt you so much that you think like that? You are by far the kindest person I have met in my life. You are hard working and passionate. That doesn't just show at school and your music but also here at work.” a soft sigh escaped Jaebeom's lip. “I'm going to show you how much you deserve all the love and respect you can get. And how much you already do get but might not even realize it.” Just as Jaebeom finished this Youngmin appeared at the small table they both had found earlier.

“You Im Jaebeom just earned my trust right now. I don't think I have to worry at all. And Youngjae I couldn't agree more to what he just said. So here enjoy my specials you two and it's on the house just make sure you do all the chores like usually." while Youngmin spoke he placed to big cups in front of the two and then stepped away from the table again.  
"He really acts like a big brother. But that's good to see that there was someone else looking over you as well." Jaebeom spoke softly his eyes now on the cup in front of him. After this a silence fell over them. Neither of them knowing what to say. "What did you mean when you said you'd show me how much I deserve and how much I already do get but might not even realize it?" the olders words had stuck to his mind. “I'm sorry I might have been a bit to forward just now. Well at least I hope you know that I am not joking and that there is something about you that keep on wants me to get closer to you. To be near you to hear that beautiful laughter I heard you share with your coworkers. Oh god I sound like a complete idiot in love well I might am but, yeah. In the end I want you to realize that you are worth it. How much of a good person you are and how highly others think of you.” Jaebeom said only to end up hiding his face behind his hands the red on his cheeks still a bit visible. "I might have gotten to know a few people who you help a lot, you might not even realize that you do and that they'd loved to be friends with you as well and I am not talking about the idiots that I call my friends. No other people who you helped at one point and they're still grateful up to this day." Jaebeom had looked at Youngjae once again. The gaze the older looked at him with seemed earnestly and unwavering. "You might be what?" was the only sentence that left Youngjae's lips. His mind had gone into over drive when Jaebeom had said that he might like him or had he heard wrong? "Might be what? That I sound like a complete idiot?" Youngjae shook his head.  
"What you said after that, that you might be in love?" To that the older didn't answer right after wards. Something in Jaebeoms eyes had changed now. Something Youngjae wasn't able to tell what it was.  
"Oh that special is amazing. Thanks for recommending it to me but I sadly I should get on my way now too. See you soon Youngjae." The dancer spoke and then finishing his cup, smiling at him one last time and then rushing out of the coffee shop.  
“See you soon hyung.”


End file.
